The Book's the Thing
by cool breeze 84
Summary: Jessica Fletcher is called on to do a book-signing at a friend's store. Another chapter unfolds in her career as a mystery writer, as she meets up with Dr. Mark Sloan and his son, Steve.


Jessica looked out the plane window. She was weary from her most recent book tour.

But her friend had pleaded with her to come out to L.A.-and do a book-signing at her small shop.

"Good," thought Jessica, as the plane was starting to descend. She anxiously awaited the

hotel room that she had already reserved. She would wait til morning to catch up

with her friend.

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Having hailed a taxi, Jessica was confused when they pulled up, not far from an

area marked off with yellow tape. The hotel had not afforded her the rest she had

desperately sought the previous evening. Used to nicer accommodations, she was

distressed to find herself in a rather seedy motel. The clerk at the desk assured her

that she was only a short distance from her friend's book store...This did not offer

Jessica a great deal of comfort. She was determined to find another hotel as soon as

possible the next day, and hoped that Julie could recommend one.

It wasn't yet 9 a.m., when the taxi driver came to a rather sudden stop. "Here you

go, lady." Jessica was puzzled, and was becoming increasingly alarmed.

"Oh driver, there must be some mistake." He turned to look at her, and his expression was

curt. "Hey, this is the address you gave me. If you don't mind, I don't wanna hang

around here – this neighborhood always gives me the creeps." Very reluctantly,

Jessica paid the cab driver, and stepped out.

She looked around her, as the taxi sped away. She heard sirens - other police cars,

coming, to join the ones already parked near the scene. "What on earth have

I got myself into ?" mused Jessica. No, this could not be the right place...

It was practically an abandoned strip mall, with several windows boarded up.

Upon closer examination, she could see that there were 2 businesses still trying to

make a go of it here. One sign said, "The Book Nook." The other one appeared

to advertise the sale of tobacco products. Jessica shook her head. Had Julie tried

to conduct business here ? Her old friend was so elegant, often wearing a pretty

silk scarf.

Hearing some voices, Jessica saw a woman standing outside the books store,

obviously very agitated. Jessica thought she might be able to duck under the

yellow tape, and go to where her friend was. As she lifted it slightly, she felt a

hand on her arm. "Sorry, ma'am. You need to stay outside the tape." She

looked up to see a man was was not wearing a uniform. "Lieutenant Steve Sloan."

He held out his badge. "Homicide department." "Pardon me, Lieutenant," Jessica

said. " I am suppose to do a book-signing at my friend's store this morning."

(Oh, why hadn't she stayed in Cabot Cover, and got properly rested at home?! )

" I can't even begin to tell you how confused I am. Can you tell me what has

happened ?" She suddenly remembered that he had said he was a _homicide _

detective. "Oh dear, I don't think I _want _to know." Steve Sloan smiled at her,

and put his hand on her shoulder. He was used to this sort of chaos, but maybe

she wasn't. "Ma'am, I wish I could offer you a comfortable place to sit, but

the best I can offer is my car." Jessica smiled back, appreciating his kindness.

"Oh thank you, Lieutenant! But I really need to speak to my friend." She pointed

toward the lady who walking toward them.

"Oh, Jessica! This is dreadful!" Julie embraced Jessica. "Oh ! They say I'm a

'person of interest.' " Jessica looked with concern at her friend. The silk scarf she

had been expecting to see was now being used to wipe tears.

An officer in uniform had followed Julie to where they all now stood. He

raised the tape, so that Julie could get on the other side. "I'm sorry ma'am, but

we need to take you down to the station." Julie held on to Jessica's arm, not saying

anything more.

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Steve had planned to meet his father at _Community General_ for lunch. Seated

next to his dad was Amanda Bentley, the pathologist who had the un-enviable

job of performing post-mortem exams on deceased patients. Mark Sloan smiled when

he saw Steve. "Where's Jesse?" Steve asked, as he set his tray down. "Oh, he took

his break early, and he's back at it," answered Amanda, motioning toward the building.

"Oh, so dedicated," asserted Steve, as he took a bite of his long-awaited lunch.

"Still planning to take off early this afternoon?" questioned Mark. " 'Fraid not,"

murmured Steve, shaking his head. "We have a new case... There was a fire in

that old strip mall, where our favorite pizza place used to be." "Oh, that terrible!"

exclaimed Mark. Amanda looked questioningly at him. "Back in the day, there were

several great shops there – even a fish & tackle store. But the gangs have taken over

the whole neighborhood. Not a safe area for store owners or patrons. Nor an easy

area for officers to patrol," he added, looking at Steve.

"Speaking of which, I'd better get back to work," sighed Steve, standing up,

and taking his partly-eaten sandwich.

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Jessica waited in the lobby of the police department. This day was NOT

going well... She looked up, as Julie hurried over to her. "Thank you

SO much for just being here for me!" She wiped away tears with the scarf.

(Jessica would have a new - and not pleasant -association with that scarf

from here on out. )

"I just can't believe it." Julie lowered her forehead into her hand.

"They say I'm a _suspect_ and that I have a _motive_."

Until now, Jessica had had no idea of what had actually happened

at the store. Whatever it was, it sounded ominous.

"Oh Jessica, today wasn't suppose to be like this," Julie cried out.

"After a couple of hours of book-signing, I planned to take you to lunch,

then we could spend the rest of the day, sight-seeing."

"But who would look after your store?" asked Jessica, more curious

than ever.

"Oh, Mike. He's the manager, and such a good friend. He has so

looked forward to meeting you!" She reached for Jessica's hand.

"Poor Mike !" Jessica was startled. Poor Mike ? She then remembered

the nice detective- the HOMICIDE detective. "Oh Julie, I'm so sorry!"

Jessica exclaimed, squeezing her friend's hand.

"When I got to the store this morning, I was so excited. Mike & I had

set up some tables after closing last evening, and stacked your books on one

of them, so we'd be all ready for the book-signing. Mike had even hoped to

bring in a vase of flowers to make it all look pretty...and tie some balloons near

the door outside, so people would know that we were having a special event."

Jessica imagined how this might seem quite unusual for that stark environment,

but said nothing. She waited for Julie to continue.

"After...after I unlocked the door, I smelled smoke when I opened it."

Jessica gave her friend an encouraging hug. "Apparently, the sprinklers still

work in that old building. But it was the most awful thing, Jessica!

When I walked into our office, Mike was slumped over his desk.

I called 9-1-1 right away, but the paramedics said he was gone.

"I...I just can't believe it."

Jessica was trying to remember what her friend had said. "_Suspect...motive_."

"But why are YOU considered a suspect, Julie ? What motive could you

possibly have ?"

"Well, they think I must have set fire to the shop, in hopes of getting

insurance money." "But that's nonsense!" insisted Jessica. You would

not want harm to come to your books, let alone a good friend."

(Jessica remembered with a smile, how her friend was always including

a bookmark when she loaned books to friends – to ensure that precious

pages would not be compromised.)

Jessica stood up, and ushered her friend toward the exit. They could

try to sort all this out AFTER lunch...!

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Later in the day, Jessica found herself back at the crime scene.

"Could it have just been an accident" she asked aloud. "Well, the police

don't seem to think so..." muttered Julie. "The business wasn't doing

well, and they think I was desperate to get the insurance money."

"Were you ?" said a voice behind them. "Oh Lieutenant Sloan,"

said Jessica. She was eager to find out more information, and to clear

her friend.

"Of course not!" exclaimed Julie. "Why won't anyone listen to me ?"

"Tell me what led up to this," instructed Steve, and listened patiently while

Julie shared her worries about her beloved business, and how she had asked

Jessica to come for a book-signing, hoping this might spark new interest in

her ailing store.

Steve was now not so sure that this was the "slam-dunk" case that his

friend at the station had predicted. "Just a minute," he motioned to the

two women. He pulled out his cell phone, and called his father.

"My Dad is getting off work, and says he will meet us at a restaurant near our

house." Steve directed the ladies to his vehicle. "Sorry. I drove one of

the squad cars over here. I hope you don't mind sitting in the back."

"As long as we're not in hand-cuffs, we should be fine," laughed Jessica.

She was more than tired of taxis for one day.

"Why are we meeting with your father ?" asked Julie anxiously.

"Is he a judge or something?" "Not quite," said Steve with a smile.

"He's a doctor at Community General." Jessica was puzzled by this, but

waited for Lieutenant Sloan to continue. "He's helped our department

solve a lot of cases," explained Steve. "Well, I hope someone can solve

this one," commented Julie. "This has truly been a _wretched_ day."

Waiting for them at the restaurant was not only Mark Sloan, but also

Jesse Travis, a young resident doctor at _Community General_.

Jesse smiled as Steve strode over to their table, accompanied by the two ladies.

Jesse loved being able to help Mark and Steve on some of these cases.

Too bad that Amanda had other plans for this evening.

Steve introduced his new friends to his dad and Jesse. After they were

seated, Jesse's eyes grew wide, and he exclaimed, "J.B. Fletcher !"

Mark & Steve stared at him. "I...I mean Mrs. Jessica Fletcher- the mystery

writer!" (He thought about how Amanda would be SO envious when she

heard about this !)

Mark smiled at the two ladies, and asked, "How may we help you ?"

Jessica answered first by thanking the doctors for their willingness to meet

with them. "Oh, it's nothing !" assured Jesse. He could smell a mystery,

and was anxious to hear the story.

Sensing the kindness of the older doctor, Julie poured out the events

of the past few months: how her rented space in a nice shopping mall had

suddenly came to a halt about 6 months ago. She had received a notice that

the rent was being increased by a substantial amount. "Oh, my world came

crashing down !" cried Julie. "I had to put my beautiful books in storage

for 2 months." She wiped away tears with the now-stained scarf. "All I could

afford to rent was this awful location in the strip mall. But I could not bear

to keep my inventory in storage any longer. And I could no longer afford

the storage rental."

Jesse let out a breath, when he heard about the early morning fire.

"Oh, I am so sorry ! Were any of your books spared ?" Julie shared

that some had escaped smoke damage. But that the worse part concerned

poor Mike. "That's just awful!" exclaimed Jesse.

"Do you have any idea as to who might have wanted your shop to

be burned ? Or...your friend to be killed?" inquired Mark, gently.

"Well...there's Tony, my late husband's former business partner,"

offered Julie. "He...he had loaned ..." Here, she sighed, and then

continued. "He had loaned me money to put my inventory in storage -

and start-up money to rent that...that place."

Mark nodded. He had long known about the difficulties faced by

small-business owners. "Were you able to pay Tony back the loan?"

"Not yet," admitted Julie. "He charged me 40 percent interest."

(All those at the table with her gasped.) "And of course, it was not

possible to get the kind of customers we had at the town mall. Most

people are afraid to venture into that area around the strip mall."

Jessica was not surprised to hear about_ that. _She asked her friend,

" Julie, is there anyone else that you might suspect?"

Julie thought for a minute. "Well, I don't have many enemies,

and I'm thankful for that. But Mike – he has, um _had,_ a brother-in-law.

Loren had been trouble from the time he started dating Teresa, Mike's sister.

The family has never trusted Loren. He just a "shifty" sort of guy.

Not responsible – like Mike." Julie spoke proudly of her manager-friend.

"Would he have a motive to kill Mike ?" asked Steve, with interest.

"Sure," nodded Julie. "Mike's parents love Teresa, but they don't want to

leave stuff to Loren. Like I said, they don't trust him. Last I heard, they're

leaving their vacation cabin to Teresa and Loren. Everything else was to

to go to Mike."

"If something happened to Mike, would his inheritance go to his sister ?"

inquired Mark. "I'm not sure," said a confused Julie. "The parents are

visiting Germany. But Mike's cousin, Argyle, is the executor of their will.

I'm sure he has a copy." She sounded certain about this.

"Could you write down his name and contact information ?" requested

Mark. Julie complied. She retrieved from her purse the information that

Mike had entrusted to her only a few weeks earlier. "I think Mike was afraid

that Loren was up to something."

Steve reached for the paper. "AR- GYLE …..like the socks ?" Steve

grinned. "The kind Jesse wears?!" "Says you!" retorted Jesse.

"No – it's "Ar- Jill," corrected Julie. "I hope he can help you."

"I hope so, too" muttered Steve. "We'll look into this."

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Jessica was grateful to Mark Sloan, for suggesting a nice hotel

- and to Jesse, for driving her there. She was thankful she had traveled

light. Besides her purse, she carried only a satchel. She_ had _tired of

lugging it around all day. But still, it was preferable to going back to the

dismal motel from the night before. Early that morning, she had checked out,

and also cancelled her reservation for the next 2 nights.

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At ten, the next morning, she took a taxi to Julie's home. Jessica

HOPED there would be no nasty surprises today.

She wondered how soon if would be before they would hear anything

about the suspects. She was glad that Lieutenant Sloan was investigating it.

Julie greeted her warmly. "Jessica, you are SUCH a good friend to be

helping me though this !"

Jessica hoped that this case could be solved quickly. She was quite

homesick for her house and friends in Cabot Cove. (How was Sheriff

Metzger getting along without her ? And her friend, Seth, the town doctor?)

She spent some time reflecting on what she'd heard so far, while Julie was

busy, making phone calls. "Tony- possibly angry that Julie's business had not

paid back the loan. And Loren – the ne'er-do-well brother-in-law who possibly

stood to inherit what Mike was leaving behind."

Julie came back into the room. "Oh Jessica. I talked with Lieutenant

Sloan. He said that Loren would NOT inherit the estate- no matter what.

Mike's parents had listed several charities in their will, in the event that something

happened to Mike."

Jessica wondered if Tony could be located for questioning.

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The two friends were enjoying dinner in Julie's kitchen when the phone

rang. Julie picked it up, and turned pale as she listened.

"It was Tony- I 'm sure it was, Jessica !" Jessica thought that they should

report this immediately. Someone had laughed, then hung up.

Mark Sloan called that evening, to see how things were going. He

was very concerned when he heard about the phone call. "Does Steve

know about this ?" Julie assured him that she had indeed talked with the

Lieutenant.

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Jessica spent the night at Julie's - concerned for her friend's

safety. About 3 a.m., she was awakened by a the sound of a car pulling

out of the driveway. She called 9 -1-1.

Later, two police officers knocked on the front door. A worried Julie

opened it. "Ma'am, we apprehended a suspect about half a block from here."

They said they had searched around Julie's house, and found an incendiary

device, which had already started some bushes to catch fire. The fire dept.

had responded before much damage was done to the property. The officers

had found a male suspect lurking behind a tree, apparently wanting to see Julie's

property burn (and her-with it !)

Julie was asked to visit the police dept. the following day, to see if

she could recognize the suspect as anyone familiar. She could guess

who it might be. But it _was _hard for the two friends to get any sleep after

such a night.

After identifying Tony as the pyro-criminal that he was, Julie

was invited, along with her famous author-friend, out to the beach

house for dinner, and to meet Amanda- who didn't want to be left

out of this most recent mystery.

Jessica signed copies of her latest book for her new friends.

And she was delighted to hear that Tony was ordered to pay restitution-

enough to help Julie re-locate to a more desirable business address and

start re-building her inventory of beautiful books !


End file.
